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Chinese jumbo jet looks globally for engines

By Song Jingli (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-04-07 17:24

Chinese jumbo jet looks globally for engines

A visitor looks at the C919 aircraft mockup at the Singapore Airshow.[Xinhua]

AVIC Commercial Aircraft Engine Company has kicked off a global search of engine suppliers for China's first indigenously-made jumbo plane, the C919, the China Business News reported on Wednesday.

The company aims to determine the first batch of major potential suppliers within the year, the report said.

An expert panel will be organized this month to evaluate domestic suppliers first, the company said.

Last year, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd, which is in charge of the C919 passenger airplane program, picked CFM International as its only foreign supplier for engines on the C919.

That doesn't mean there is no need for developing home-made engines for the large passenger aircraft, according to Zhang Jian, general manager of AVIC Commercial Aircraft Engine.

Zhang said it was just a matter of time for home-grown engines to be used on the jumbo plane.

The C919, a 168-190 seat narrow-body aircraft similar to the Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737, is scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2014 and go into commercial operation in 2016.